1. Technical Field
This application relates to a method and system to process data. Particularly, this application relates to the processing of on-line donations.
2. Related Art
A number of organizations exist for the purpose of charitable and/or non-profit functions, including organizations which qualify as charitable organizations under U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Regulation 501(c)(3). Not uncommonly, such organizations find that there are a number of costs associated with receiving and handling donations. One cost involves the labor or man-power costs associated with soliciting and/or receiving such donations. Many charitable organizations employ or hire individuals or organizations for the purpose of soliciting funds, attracting potential donors and the like. Because there are often costs associated with such employees or organizations (including wages, salaries or commissions and/or costs of advertising services or materials, typically a certain portion of the funds received or collected by a charitable organization, which might otherwise be available for the organizations' charitable functions, must instead be expended for costs associated with attracting or receiving donations.
Another cost typically associated with or born by charitable organizations is the cost of handling the donated funds. In many situations, donations take the form of coins, currency, and/or negotiable instruments such as personal checks. Partially in situations where the charitable organization receives a relatively large number of donations in relatively small amounts, the costs associated with handling such coins, cash or checks, (such as costs of counting and/or rolling or packaging coins, counting cash and/or checks, and depositing these items in a financial institution) further depletes funds of the charitable organization.
Yet another cost sometimes associated with charitable transactions is the cost associated with providing receipts to donors, particularly receipts of a type that may be used by donors in calculating taxes or completing or documenting tax returns.
Donors to charitable organizations are sometimes solicited for donations in situations where the donors are presented with a single choice: to donate or not to donate to a single, particular charitable organization. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus and method in which potential donors are presented with a number of different options for the recipient of their donation.
In a number of situations, a person wishing to make a donation to a particular charitable institution is required to either be in possession of a donation form and/or an address for other information so that the donation may be transmitted to the correct recipient. Also, donors often must bear the cost of postage or telephone calls. This situation is particularly problematic for donors who may have relocated, temporally or permanently, to a location far removed from the desired charitable organization.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,794 describes a donation transaction apparatus and method for facilitating donations to charitable organizations. The apparatus is configured to receive coins or, in some embodiments, cash or funds transfer authorization or credit charges, and preferably dispenses a donation receipt to the user which the user may use to prepare or document income tax returns. Preferably, the user is able to select among a plurality of charitable organizations to receive the donation.
Thus, a computer-implemented method and apparatus for processing on-line donations is needed.